Preparing Young Adults with Vision Impairment for Adult Life: A Case Study

1. The role of education in preparing young adults with special educational needs and disabilities for adult life: a case study of young people with vision impairment Graeme Douglas and Rachel Hewett, VICTAR, University of Birmingham

2. Vision Impairment Centre for Teaching and Research (VICTAR) • Department of Disability Inclusion and Special Needs (DISN), School of Education, University of Birmingham • Two research & teaching centres • VICTAR • ACER (Autism Centre for Education and Research) • Largest UK provider of Mandatory Qualification for Teachers of Children with Vision Impairment • Educational Psychology (ApEd&ChildPsyD) • Masters/PhD students

3. Overview • Current context and where we are coming from • How prepared were the participants in the Longitudinal Transitions Study for adult life? • Challenges faced by specialist educational services • What can we do about it?

4. 1. Current context, and where we are coming from

5. Starting point • DfE context (England): CoP and ‘Preparing for Adulthood’ • Links to the conceptions and literatures in the field of Vision Impairment Education • Carol B. Allman and Sandra Lewis (2014) ECC essentials: teaching the expanded core curriculum to students with visual impairments. AFB Press. • “Beginning with the end in mind” • “Focussing on the potential adult”

7. Preparing for Adulthood - The Code of Practice • Start early – understand the interests, strengths and motivations of children and young people and use these to plan • All professionals working with families should support children and young people to make choices for themselves • The Local Offer must include provision which will help children and young people prepare for adulthood and independent living • Local authorities have a legal duty to ensure that all reviews of EHC plans from Year 9 onwards include a focus on preparing for adulthood • New tool to support the development of outcomes related to PfA: http://preparingforadulthood.org.uk/resources/all-resources/advice-from-dfe/pfa-outcomes-tool

8. EHC plans post-19 Should include opportunities to: experience the world of work develop independence skills in an adult context LAs must not cease an EHC plan simply because the YP turns 19 New DfE resource on 19- 25 EHC plan eligibility: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-19-to-25-year-olds-entitlement-to-ehc-plans SEND Code of Practice reference to ‘independence’:

9. SEN Code of Practice (2001) --> SEND Code of Practice (2015)

10. Links to the field of Vision Impairment Education • Traditional interest in “broad and balanced curriculum” • Inclusive teaching (accessible and modified materials, environmental audits and adjustments, peer and staff awareness training) • Concepts of independence (mobility, living skills, technology), additional curricula, “Expanded Core Curriculum” (ECC) • Dual role • “Access to learning” AND “Learning to access”

11. Providing ‘Access to Learning’ Child’s age / developmental level (Time) Teaching ‘Learning to Access’ Increased independence; Emphasis upon additional curriculum

12. Working through the model • Teaching young and developmentally young pupils will involve the teacher emphasising ‘access to learn’ strategies, e.g. • Enlarged text books; use of teaching assistants for curriculum access tasks; sighted guide when moving around the school; specialist accessible teaching resources. • The teacher will emphasise ‘learning to access’ strategies to encourage independence. This emphasis will increase as the child gets older, e.g. • Low vision aids; touch typing; use of computers / laptops; provision of electronic files rather than hard copy material; independent mobility; self advocacy.

14. An aside: Inclusion, dilemma’s and tensions • Norwich (2013). Addressing tensions and dilemmas in inclusive education: Living with uncertainty. New York, NY: Routledge. • Inclusive education must navigate education systems that contain dilemmas, most notably:education systems that treat people the same on one hand (but might be insensitive to their differences) and respond to people’s difference on the other (which might stigmatise and hinder them on that basis). Notable dilemmas of difference: • Identification-non-identification of some children having SEND; • Curriculum commonality-differentiation (inclusive curriculum); and • Common-separate teaching and learning settings (“inclusive pedagogy” and “inclusive schooling”)

15. An aside: Inclusion, dilemma’s and tensions • Shared curriculum – everyone needs to be independent don’t they? • Additional and expanded curriculum – but aren’t some things so important (and perhaps nuanced and disability specific?) that they should be considered as additional in case they are forgotten? • Alternative curriculum – there can be a danger that focussing upon an alternative curriculum will simply exclude from the shared…? • You might reflect upon the concept of the Expanded Core Curriculum, how comfortable you are with it, and how / if it can be applied to other SEND groups?

16. Back to vision impairment…Accessing information independently in lessons • http://www.rnib.org.uk/services-we-offer-advice-professionals-education-professionals/technology-education Video of Ben

18. 2. Longitudinal Transitions Project • Background: In 2010 we recruited 82 young people: • aged 14-16 years (now 20-23) • supported by service for their vision impairment • ‘independently complete a questionnaire’ • 60 participants are still involved • Interviewed approx. twice a year • plus case studies in relation to different ‘pathways’ • Findings can be found: • www.birmingham.ac.uk/victar; RNIB website; NatSIP website

19. Background to the project INDEPENDENT LIVING ENABLERS LABOUR MARKET – EMPLOYMENT VS NEET COMPULSORY EDUCATION ???? FULFILLING POTENTIAL BARRIERS

20. What happens at age 16? INDEPENDENT LIVING LABOUR MARKET – EMPLOYMENT VS NEET COMPULSORY EDUCATION ???? FULFILLING POTENTIAL

21. What happens when I am 16? • Where do people go after compulsory education? • Well educated (higher than national average) and optimistic • Many remained in education – sixth form, FE • Many went to university • Some into employment and apprenticeships • But increasingly: • Churning • Some long-term ‘not in education employment or training’ (NEET) • Higher then expected dropped out of university or repeated years • Few living independently, and anxiety about employment

22. What happens when I am 16? • Transition planning: how helpful did the participants find it? • Positive: 30% • Negative: 42% • Neutral: 27% “I think I have already said, but reviews were generally not very pleasant affairs, they were kind of intimidating, really stressful and they usually ended up in arguments. I am pretty sure that the reason I got the key worker was because I turned round and said I didn’t want to attend them anymore” “…actually the time at which a meeting probably would have been most helpful would have been in Sixth Form, the transition to university”

23. From school to FE • http://www.rnib.org.uk/insight-online/must-watch-transition-stories Video about Siraj • What do you think about the support Siraj talked about? • What do you think worked? • And what might have been different?

25. Reflections: How prepared were the participants in the Longitudinal Transitions Study for adult life? INDEPENDENT LIVING ENABLERS LABOUR MARKET – EMPLOYMENT VS NEET COMPULSORY EDUCATION ???? FULFILLING POTENTIAL BARRIERS

26. Previous work experience • Some YP completed school with no work experience • Many of those who did found it extremely valuable “Learning to go to a new place, going and talking to people on my own that was quite a good experience. That’s what I would say it was best for, meeting new people and speaking to them for the first time on my own.” • Lack of work experience a barrier

27. Skills for accessing information • Strategies for accessing information not necessarily appropriate for next stage in life • Limited knowledge of specialist software • Limited knowledge of LVAs Case study: Aimee

28. Skills for getting around independently • Majority of participants confident to get around local area independently • Around half unprepared to get around in new areas & to get around using public transport Researcher: On reflection how prepared would you be for doing that? Say you wanted to, there was a job in a different town and you wanted to get there independently, how prepared… Participant: I just wouldn’t, I wouldn’t put myself in that situation. “Yeah it was very helpful, it boosted my confidence, even now when I don’t know where I am going I do feel more confident because I know I can do it if I concentrate.”

29. Explaining vision impairment • 41% report felt unprepared to explain their vision impairment • Only 1 participant recalled receiving guidance “No, and it was actually harder than I thought to explain to someone. Because I was so used to being in a college where everyone knew what a VI was. And now I am back into a place where no one really knows. I think it took a good couple of months for even just my flat mates to start realising the nature of my sight.” “Oh definitely more than prepared for it. In terms of guidance because my parents were fairly… they were open about it to people, they have not really held back in telling people that I am blind, they have actually encouraged, openly told people to make things more accessible for me.”

30. From Sixth Form/FE to HE • http://www.rnib.org.uk/insight-online/must-watch-transition-stories Video about Jasmine • What types of skills did Jasmine need to draw upon once in HE?

32. 3. Challenges faced by specialist VI education services • Policy challenges • National education policy and legislative changes • SEND Code of Practice (2001) --> (2015) • 19-25 agenda emphasised • Independence as an educational outcome is emphasised • But no curriculum space! • Overarching education policy is emphasising: • Narrower curriculum and attainment outcomes • Inspection system which focusses upon this • Funding direct to schools

33. 3. Challenges faced by specialist VI education services • Funding challenges, e.g. • Austerity/cuts in central government funding to LAs and schools • Cuts to VI service funding - reduced capacity and fewer specialist staff • Caseloads increasing in size and complexity; • Raising of thresholds for specialist support/reducing levels of support • Funding direct to schools – different relationship with LA services • School as purchaser of QTVI support, direct employment of TAs • In a context of extending entitlement to age 25, and a concern about expertise in that area

34. 4. What can we do about it? • A key challenge facing educators and policy makers is knowing how to include the ECC and the academic curriculum “given the time constraints of the school day” (Wolffe and Kelly, 2011, p. 341) • Making the service position clear – The ‘offer’ • Brent LA VTS – 8 outcomes • Learning to access • Use of equipment • Independence and negotiation skills • Participation • Meeting others • Getting around • Looking after him/herself • Life after school

35. But it often works – and when it does… it’s transformative: “I can’t really emphasise how helpful she has been, to be honest. Because she has been consistent since when I was 14 all the way to now, she has always been a support through uni and everything, when I was at [college], finding me these work placements that I did, thinking about when I graduate, she was on the ball… She would help me with my job search and finding somewhere to live if I needed something. So she was a really valuable resource that I have been able to tap into.” (Young person sharing their experience of working with a Transitions Officer)

36. Conclusion and discussion • What’s important?: • Capturing independence and broader curriculum issues in educational planning is very important? • (Core) Curriculum access is also important? • The balance between them is important, and progressive • How can EHC plans (or just individual education plans) capture this? • What is an educational psychologist’s role in this

37. Some useful links • Resources to help young people with vision impairment transitioning into higher education: ‘Starting University’ available at http://www.rnib.org.uk/young-people/starting-university • A toolkit to assist visiting teacher services to design their services around broad educational outcomes (with Brent LA and RNIB) at https://www.natsip.org.uk • Bridging the gap (new version for England on its way), at http://www.rnib.org.uk/young-people-school-life-and-planning-ahead-making-transition-school/transition-guide-bridging-gap • BBC’s “Too many helping hands”, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07wphhh

38. Some useful links • Transitions conference and videoshttp://www.rnib.org.uk/transition-conference • http://www.rnib.org.uk/insight-online/must-watch-transition-stories • VICTAR blog https://victarnews.wordpress.com/ • Recent project summary report available at: www.birmingham.ac.uk/victar

39. References, e.g. • Douglas et al (2012) Measuring Educational Engagement, Progress and Outcomes for Children with Special Educational Needs: A Review. National Council for Special Education (NCSE), Trim, Ireland.http://www.ncse.ie/research/researchreports.asp • Douglas, G., McLinden, M., Robertson, C., Travers, J., and Smith, E. (2016) Including pupils with special educational needs and disability in national assessment: Comparison of three country case studies through an inclusive assessment framework. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 63(1), 98-121. • McLinden, M., Douglas, G., Cobb, R., Hewett, R. and Ravenscroft, J. (2016). Access to learning’ and ‘learning to access’: Analysing the distinctive role of specialist teachers of children and young people with vision impairments in facilitating curriculum access through an ecological systems theory. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 34(2) 179–197.

40. Contact details Graeme Douglas: G.G.A.Douglas@bham.ac.uk Rachel Hewett: R.G.Hewett@bham.ac.uk @RachelHewettUoB VICTAR website: www.birmingham.ac.uk/victar VICTAR blog: https://victarnews.wordpress.com/